Is anyone knowledgeable as to what is likely happen to the GM Plant’s assessed property value for property tax purposes after plant operations cease and the property sits idle?
I suppose GM could seek a reduction in appraised value if plant tooling and fixtures of a size and scale that are included in the property’s value are removed or scrapped. GM could conceivably seek a decrease in assessed value based on the cost of remediating any environmental hazards left behind.
I think it difficult for the county to increase assessed value prior to sale, the property not being subject to comparable sales valuation (though there are state guidelines about the assessed value of unusual properties). My guess is that the appraised value stays the same over time as the property sits idle without being sold, less any immediate removal or devaluation of tooling.
General credit market trouble arising from subprime mortgage troubles probably have the commercial/industrial real estate market treading water. A frozen assessed value becomes a drag on the city budget as the value of other properties increases, even if only at the rate of inflation. Regardless of exact circumstances, a frozen assessed value will not adversely impact Doraville property tax revenue/millage rate in the near or medium terms, the city being able to adjust its budget over time if redevelopment/reuse is delayed, unless there is a substantial initial reduction in assessed value.
Most of us have probably seen the REALTOR(tm) scare-mail that’s been circulating around DeKalb County recently. The AJC has a decent article discussing the whole issue here.
Amusingly, they actually make the argument that requiring a few hundred dollars (at most) of water-saving fixtures in an older home will convince some people not to sell their home. Interestingly, it was the updated bathroom and kitchen that helped convince us to buy our 50-year-old home in the Northwoods, and I’m fairly sure we paid a good premium for the upgrades, which included a low-flow toilet, shower head, and sink fixtures. We also got the free kit from DeKalb County to upgrade our remaining fixtures, which leaves one ancient toilet to replace under the law.
The AJC raises some of the same problems I’ve had with the law, which are quite different than the REALTORS(tm) have raised, mostly about who gets the lucrative “confirmation” business, and how their price will be controlled by law.
I’m a little behind the times…but I just learned that the Star Towers project on Buford Highway is a go! The project received all its permits last month and they should break ground in January. My understanding is that it will be a 10-story building – maybe even 2 buildings? I think this development is a positive step for Doraville. We need newer buildings and more high-rise on Buford Highway – look at what it did for the Perimeter area!
Donna Pittman passed along the following reminder about Friday’s Christmas tree lighting:
Hello everyone just a reminder of the Christmas tree lighting tomorrow night 6:00 hope everyone can make it! Hot chocolate, cookies and a fun time visiting with your neighbors also it would be nice to bring a new toy for the Toys for Tots box the biggest need will be for girls 10-12 years look forward to seeing all of you!
I would appreciate if everyone would help get the reminder out by forwarding to someone who is not on my list thank you so much!!
If anyone who goes takes pictures, e-mail them (joseph -at- doraville.org) and I will put them online.
Johnny Lawler’s proposal, now that we have an official zoning map, is to hire a city planner and staff (FULL TIME! Skip the contract work) and to take the zoning rewrite he (Lawler) presented to the city council, put the OLD zoning districts back in to match the map, add a few key new ones for future development, and pass the thing! All this other dancing around is a waste of time and an obstruction to progress. I was amazed last night that when I stated I was a teacher, not a city planner and that we really needed to trust that professional city planners, like Johnny Lawler, know what they’re doing more than we do, people called out “NO! This is a democracy!” Such self aggrandizement! Such arrogance! Such idiocy!
It’s already been mentioned in the comments, but it looks like congratulations are in order to Ray Jenkins–who will have another 4 years as mayor; and to Pam Flemming, Oakcliff’s newest councilperson. I also want to say thank you again to Marlene & John, for putting themselves on the line for what they believe in–I’m sure we haven’t heard the last from either of them.
Here are the results as reported by the AJC:
I’m surprised at the high turn-out — 765 votes is not that far off from the 784 that were cast in the general election! It seems that most of Hart’s supporters did indeed cross over to Jenkins’ camp as predicted by many people in the comments.
At Tuesday’s run-off election, Doraville’s voters will be determining the direction of our city for the next several years. Whether you support Hadden or Jenkins, Noonan or Flemming, chances are that the voter turn-out is going to be extremely low (I’ll be surprised if it’s much higher than 500 total votes). One good thing about low voter turn-out is that your individual ballot is likely to count a lot more–so go out and vote, and encourage your friends, family and neighbors who live in the city to get out and vote too.
Consider this an open thread about any issues people still want to talk regarding the election or anything else. See you at the polls!
I am not a councilperson. I am not a developer. I am not a candidate for any office. I am a long-time resident of Oakcliff. We came here from Miami and liked it well enough to stay and raise our daughters here, even though we had not intended to.
I have given a lot of thought to this upcoming mayoral election. Before the run-offs, there were three interesting, stimulating people with ideas that occasionally converged and often differed. Now, we are down to two candidates. In my opinion, Ray is a very nice man with whom I have had many insightful discussions. I think he has a good heart and that he cares for people in this city and outside this city and that he tries to keep the peace, sometimes at too high a cost.
Marlene is controversial. She’s progressive. She makes people mad. She makes people question. She makes us think. Even if you can’t stand the sight of her, she creates a balance – stirs the pot – unseats the humdrum laissez-faire attitude that worked when Doraville was a buzzing, thriving city, but is now our death knell. For this reason, I will cast my vote for her. If you don’t like her, don’t invite her over for dinner. Have long phone conversations with your friends about how awful she is and cross to the other side of the street when you see her coming. Buy pins and small dolls that have red hair. But, people, I urge you to look around you at what is happening to our city. To YOUR city. This is what has been accomplished in the past four years with Ray as mayor. Granted, there were problems. Granted, the city council members didn’t work well together. Granted, he did his best in a bad circumstance. But, sadly, his best has not been good enough – to turn us around – to face us forward – to be competitive with the cities around us. We need a good zoning ordinance in place so developers will take us seriously instead of snickering about us behind their hands. My greatest concern is that Ray, with the “help” of Tom Hart may change his mind about accepting our new zoning rewrite – choosing to throw out the zoning ordinance worked on for years by professional planning companies and citizens, and opting to Scotch-tape together bits and pieces of previous ordinances to form our legacy. (The simple solution is to fold zoning districts from the old ordinances into the body of the new one so it will match our current map and to add new districts for future development.) Tom, too, has done a one-eighty spin. After an era of discord and recent spotlighting of Ray’s campaign contributions, he has become one of the mayor’s staunchest supporters. (I will throw that in your already-overflowing laps to ponder.)
So, neighbors, here we are. We go forward or we stagnate. We blossom or we wither. Our property values go up or they go down. It’s up to you. To us. There are no guarantees with Marlene – but with Ray, we have more of the same to seal our futures.
The AJC has this new article about a New York City lawsuit against several gun dealers in Georgia for carelessly selling guns that were then used for crime in New York. One of the gun shops is the Gun Store in Doraville. According to the story, the lawsuit is based on a New York sting operation of “straw purchasing” guns, where it was very obvious that the person who was buying the gun was NOT the intended owner of the gun.
In the New York sting, a man would ask about guns and pay for them but have a woman with him in the store complete the paperwork, supposedly because the man was legally prohibited from buying a weapon.
It is not clear from the article whether the Gun Store was named to that lawsuit after falling for that sting. There are several disturbing facts in the article, but this is the most important one for the Gun Store:
In a federal lawsuit, Mayor Michael Bloomberg points out at least 126 weapons first sold by the Gun Store in Doraville were recovered in New York crime investigations between 1996 and 2000[...]
There’s also one more bit of trivia about the store that I haven’t heard the details about before:
Discussions of the ease of buying guns in Georgia recently resurfaced when rapper T.I., a convicted felon whose real name is Clarence Harris Jr., was arrested in October on charges he used his bodyguard to make straw purchases of nine weapons, including machine guns, from the Gun Store.
I’m sure our police department has worked together with the FBI and NYC police to help get the Gun Store to obey the laws, but Georgia needs some real enforcement of some real gun laws. Perhaps we should be grateful that we’re getting money for iron sent to rob and murder people out of state, but it might be good to consider why Georgia is such a popular source for such distant crimes.